Since its founding in 2003, Woollim Entertainment has been through a series of events. The agency is said to be on the verge of a crisis or is heading for a new change
Woollim Entertainment is in the media spotlight. The agency is said to be on the verge of a crisis or is heading for a new change.
Since its founding in 2003, Woollim has gone through a series of events, including a merger and acquisition with SM C&C, becoming a subsidiary through a physical division, and returning to its own company through the final process of selling shares.
Starting with singer Kim Dong Ryul, Woollim's first and initial recruit, they have worked with various artists including Nell, Jisun, Kim Min Suk, JOO, and more. The representative artists leading Woollim are INFINITE and Lovelyz.
INFINITE is a boy group that Woollim first produced in the midst of the booming idol market and later solidified its position in the industry. Lovelyz, who debuted four years later, also managed to establish a position in the girl group market.
Woollim then debuted Golden Child, Rocket Punch, DRIPPIN, slowly becoming a more prominent idol agency. Meanwhile, Kwon Eunbi and Kim Chaewon, who appeared on Mnet's "Produce 48," debuted in IZ*ONE and further enhanced Woollim's image.
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| Source: Koreaboo |
But change is quietly approaching the agency. This started after INFINITE's L did not renew his contract after his contract expired in 2019. Sunggyu, Dongwoo and Sungyeol and Sungjong also left Woollim one after another. However, INFINITE did not disband.
Lovelyz, which is considered to be Woollim's representative group, also did not renew the contract after the contract expired last November except for Baby Soul. Kim Chaewon also disappeared from the Woollim lineup following rumors of his transfer to Source Music in August last year.
Currently, the only artists left in Woollim are INFINITE's Woohyun, Lovelyz's Baby Soul, Golden Child, Rocket Punch, DRIPPIN, and Kwon Eunbi. Although their achievements continue, the results are quite poor compared to the period when the representative group of the agency was active.
The biggest problem Woollim is facing right now is that there are no artists to represent the agency and lead the sales. It seems the company is in dire need of a strong "one shot" at this point.
But there are limits in the rush to launch a new group in the idol market. To debut a new group requires not only talented people with stellar qualities, but also a lot of time, effort, money and content. It is also difficult to succeed in the strong and competitive fourth-generation idol market.
Overall, it looks like Woollim needs a smart strategy to get through this situation. It's time to break away from INFINITE and Lovelyz's past success and make a new change. That's why Woollim is currently said to be in critical condition. (wk/chus)
